Waltzing Hearts
by randomstateofmind
Summary: A night of festivity and celebration brings two misguided souls together. She thinks she's alone in this world. He knows better. But will she accept him after an accidental kiss? Naruto x Sakura oneshot... Read and Review! Check out the others, too!


**Waltzing Hearts**

_By randomstateofmind_

"May I have this dance?"

It was a common phrase of the night. The Lady Hokage, Tsunade, had arranged a special evening to celebrate the Hidden Leaf village's birthday. Over a century ago, the First Hokage founded Konoha, and now the village's citizens were willing to come together in appreciation with a formal ball.

It was Shizune's idea; she thought it would be an excellent way to show village fidelity and bring the members of their society closer together. And of course, it received the whole-hearted support of Jiraiya. That old pervy-sage couldn't wait to see a room full of women attired in wondrous gowns and knee-length dresses.

Naruto arrived just as the sun was setting, half an hour after the ball began. He didn't own many fancy clothes – actually, he never wore a tie in his life – so he had to borrow from his friend, Rock Lee. Initially when Lee offered, Naruto was afraid the tuxedo would be made of spandex, or accented with a goofy belt. Heck, even polka dots came to mind. But it surprised him how normal it was; sleek black pants and a jacket over a white collared shirt, a dark red tie loosely draped around his neck. It made him look professional, mature. One glance in a mirror, and he couldn't recognize himself until closer inspection.

He had left his headband at home, so his spiky blond hair drooped over his forehead and poked into his vision. Every now and then he had to run his hand through it, pushing it back and out of his sky blue eyes so he could see where he was going. It was bothersome, but he didn't overreact. He wasn't a child anymore.

He was seventeen.

"Hey! Naruto!" someone called to him from behind. Naruto spun around and caught sight of Kiba and Hinata walking towards him. Kiba was nearly identical in appearance to Naruto, but his tie was forest green and his hair didn't stand out as much. _Brown always matches anything_, Naruto thought grudgingly.

Hinata had her hands in front of her chest, clutching a small white purse with silver embroidery etched into the fabric. She wore a long, silver lavender gown with a white sash around her waist and matching gloves that gripped her arm past her elbows. Her dark violet hair was up in an elegant bun, dotted with several white and silver butterfly clips that were smaller than a dime.

"Wow, Hinata," said Naruto, "You really look amazing."

Hinata's pale face suddenly flushed a bright tomato red, and she looked away with embarrassment. "Oh … thank you, N-Naruto. Ino decorated my hair for me."

"It looks great."

Kiba chuckled when he took in Naruto's whole appearance. "I'm having trouble seeing the real you inside there, Naruto," he laughed, flashing a toothy grin. "Where's the twerp who always gets on everyone's nerves?"

Naruto scowled, the veins in his forehead popping. "I'll be sure to let you know when I see him," he growled through gritted teeth, feeling the urge to shake his fist at his companion. But he promised pervy-sage that he wouldn't act like a fool this evening; the man didn't want his pupil scaring away all the beautiful women.

"I-I think you look very grown up, Naruto," Hinata mumbled, so quiet Naruto barely heard her.

"Yeah, right," said a fourth person, "Naruto? Grown up? I doubt that'll ever happen."

"What?!" Naruto exclaimed, turning to see Tenten, Ino, Rock Lee, and Sai arrive as a single body. Tenten had on a chocolate brown dress, which she looked very uncomfortable in, and her hair was braided in a plait down her back. Rock Lee had on a tux identical to Naruto's (since they were just doubles of the same suit), and he shot Naruto a quick thumbs-up to show he thought he looked fantastic. Of course he thought that; they were _his _clothes. Sai had on a black and gray tux, which combined with his ashen skin tone and beetle-black hair made him resemble a bland newspaper or a character from an old movie.

It was Ino who had spoken; she sported a short blood black dress decorated with imprints of pale roses the shade of the glowing full moon. A real rose was tucked into her bleach blond ponytail. She had her hand over her mouth as she giggled.

"You make snide remarks about me like an immature ten-year-old and you say _I'm _not grown up?" Naruto protested, scoffing. "I think we all know who the real child is."

Ino, surprised at the retort, halted her laughs and stuck her nose high in the air in her famous "I'm-better-than-you" stance: arms crossed, one leg forward, a little "Hmph!" grunting from her throat. Naruto shook his head and turned around, heading into the building. Behind him, Sai pulled out his notebook and recorded the words of the conversation for later reference. He almost forgot to walk when the others did, and before he was left behind, Ino leaned back and grabbed his gray tie, yanking him after her.

"Must I do everything?" she muttered sourly.

Inside, the place was in magnificent décor, with flashy curtain streamers hanging from the ceiling, originating from a chandelier in the center of the room. There were crowds of people, all dressed in their finest wear, standing off to the side of the widespread dance floor either eating or making small talk. The rest of the villagers were dancing to music that derived from a miniature orchestra at the opposite end of the large hall. There was a conductor and everything.

It was truly a sight to see; Naruto had never witnessed anything like it before.

The others walked past him to join Neji's group a little ways off, which included Shikamaru and Choji. As Ino past him, she grinned in that mean-girl way that made him grind his teeth. "Have fun tonight, Naruto," she spoke in a mockingly nice voice, "I'm sure you'll find _some _poor, idiotic sap to dance with a loser like you. Don't lose hope, now!" She waved as she walked by, and Naruto, back hunched in repressed anger, mumbled incoherently as he made his way to the food tables.

"Punch," he muttered as he reached the table, taking one of the china cups and pouring the fruity red-orange liquid with idle interest. He wasn't even that thirsty; it was just to pass time until he fully came to realize, with vice-sequential depression, that Ino was right. Nobody wanted to dance with him. He couldn't find a date if it took him a million years. He'd probably linger around this place just long enough to please Grandma Tsunade's standards, and then scoot back to his apartment as soon as possible.

And he can't dance by himself; that would be more pathetic than watching a bird fly into a dirty window. And it would definitely prove to everyone how much of a loser he was. Besides, why dance when you can't share it with anyone?

Naruto took a sip of punch and leaned against the wall, watching everyone else around him have a jolly good time. In the corner of his eye he spotted Jiraiya's head sticking out from underneath the food table's tablecloth; he was spying on a group of pretty townswomen chatting close by. One of them saw him and gave a little shriek, reaching out with her heeled foot and smacking him in the forehead before they stomped off. "Pervert!" they shouted at him, glaring. Naruto couldn't muster enough heart to chuckle, or even feel disappointed.

The doors to the ballroom opened again, and someone else entered. Naruto looked up, thinking it was strange for someone to arrive so late to such an important event. And then his mouth dropped to the floor.

It was Sakura. She was dressed like he'd never seen her before; a knee-length, rose red dress held up with spaghetti straps wrapped around her figure snugly, showing off the sexy curves of her body – curves Naruto was always the first to notice. There was a single slit in the dress, a foot-long divide that ran up her thigh, so when she walked, it flowed in a wind of scarlet behind her. Accompanied with black-strapped sandals and a small matching purse, Sakura was the most stunning woman Naruto had ever laid eyes on. And he was sure she was a woman now; nobody could deny it. The way she walked, her body moved with the confidence of a predator seeking her prey.

She was the predator.

He was the prey.

At least, he hoped so.

Setting his drink down on the table, Naruto took a few steps forward and waved her over. "Sakura, hey!" he called. "Over here! Sakura, over here!" She turned at the sound of his voice, seeking him out in the crowd. Her turquoise eyes were outlined in mascara and eyeshadow the shade of the open sea; her pink blossom hair was down, the bangs clipped back to reveal the smooth features of her face.

She saw him – at long last! – and waved back to him, weaving through the thickening crowd of people to get to him. He made his way to her, carelessly shoving past people he didn't even know, his attention only on her.

It seemed like ages before they finally reached each other. And when they did, there was suddenly nothing to say. There was nothing to do but stand and stare, smile awkwardly, and every now and then look like they were about to say something only to have an epic fail in breaking the silence.

And yet it wasn't silent at all. All around them was noise; people talking, music playing, laughter ringing, women shouting at Jiraiya … but all Naruto and Sakura could hear was silence. It was like they were in their own world.

_She … she looks good, _he thought, unable to look away from her.

_He's staring at me, _she thought, _I probably look weird in this. I shouldn't have worn something so attention grabbing. What an embarrassment. _She blushed slightly, looking away.

Finally, it was Sakura who built up the courage to speak. "You look nice, Naruto," she said, clearing her throat. It had suddenly gone dry.

"Thanks," he replied bashfully, rubbing the back of his neck. "You do, too. I … um … I like your dress."

Sakura frowned a little, her face flushing even more. To her, the nerves in Naruto's voice sounded like he was about to burst out laughing at her. And she felt so ridiculous in the dress in the first place; she was too upset to have an angry outburst like she normally would. This was not a normal night. "I didn't think you owned a tux," she said casually, not looking at him.

"I don't," Naruto answered, not looking at her. "I borrowed it from Bushy Brow. For a guy who wears a green outfit, he sure knows his stuff when it comes to formal wear."

"Really?" She sounded disbelieving. He peeked at her, and saw her eyebrows raised.

"No kidding," he said, grinning. The tension was still between them, but he was growing more at ease with it. He was going to try to overcome it, and hopefully his efforts wouldn't prove vain.

"I wasn't sure I was even going to come to this thing," Sakura confessed, brushing a strand of hair that didn't get clipped back behind her ear.

Naruto's brow bunched together in confusion. "Why not?"

"Well, because it seems silly, doesn't it? I mean, why do we have to get all dressed up just to stand around and talk?"

"To make you feel rich?" he suggested, and was rewarded with a sweet laugh from her. For a moment, all he could hear was her laughter. It rang through his mind like a church bell.

"I doubt it," she said.

"Well, normally people come to these gigs just to dance. Hence the busy dance floor before you."

"Yeah, but it's not like anyone was going to ask me to dance anyway."

Naruto was awestruck. How could someone so magnificently beautiful walk with a confidence when she doesn't have any in herself? She had to be kidding.

"You're kidding, right?" he asked bluntly. Sakura shot him a sideways look. "Why wouldn't anyone want to dance with you?"

"Why would you say that?"

"Because you're the prettiest girl in the room!" He saw the shock on her face, felt his own mouth drop in surprise. He hadn't meant to say that out loud. They stared at each other like that for more than half a minute. Then her right hand lashed out, and she smacked his left shoulder so hard he stumbled.

"What was that for?" he demanded, rubbing the sore spot that resulted from her super strength - a technique taught via Tsunade. "I gave you a compliment."

"That wasn't a compliment," she snapped, suddenly mad, "That was pity. You know nobody will ask me to dance, and you're rubbing it in."

"How can calling you pretty be 'rubbing it in'?" he exclaimed, but she didn't answer. Sakura had turned on her heel and was storming off in the other direction. He hesitated, afraid of what he might have gotten himself into; she seemed strangely over reactive to him tonight. He made a quick decision that this was a risk he was willing to take and chased after her, catching up with her just as she approached a door leading into the hallways that branched off from the building; it was usually where the restrooms were located.

"Hey, Sakura, come on!" Naruto pleaded, reaching out with his hand for her arm but then pulling it back quickly. He didn't know what might happen to him if he touched her when she was in this state. She could throw him across the room without meaning to.

"I'm done talking to you, Naruto," she stated impassively. She opened the door to the branched hallway and started walking to the emergency exit at the other end. "I'm going home. It was an obvious mistake to come here."

"I don't understand! Why do you keep saying that?" he said, running to overtake her speed and stopping in front of her. She halted before she could walk into him and took a slow, deep breath of impatience.

"Be_cause! _I look like an idiot wearing this stupid dress and believing someone would actually think I looked decent enough to dance with. But who am I fooling? The one person who would be just as unsuccessful as me at finding a dance partner is _mocking_ me! I knew it was pointless coming here, so why did I even come? Now get out of my way."

"But you've only been here a couple of minutes, barely even!" Naruto protested, stepping to the right when she stepped to the left. He wouldn't let her past him, not unless she used her strength and knocked him into a wall. He was barricading her. "Can't you just stay a little while longer, give the guys a chance to see how amazing you are?"

"No!" Sakura shouted, her thoughts etched in so much vehemence that she didn't even notice Naruto called her amazing. She tried getting around him again, but he blocked her. "Get out of my way, Naruto." She spoke through clenched teeth, each word laced with a threat bigger than the one before it. Naruto didn't move. He stared her down, scowling, uncomprehending.

"You're afraid," he said, realizing as he said it that it was the only explanation. Sakura stared at him like he just called her a moron. "You're afraid of what people think of you. You're afraid to take risks like wearing something bold and different to a ball like this."

"Don't … say … another … word." Her glare pierced him in the chest just as much as it did the eyes, but he couldn't stop. He had to make her see the error of her thoughts.

"And yet you did!" he pointed out, "You were afraid to make a statement, and yet you did it anyway!"

"Naruto…"

"Do you know what I call that? I call that courage. It's when you kick your fear's ass."

"I swear…"

"But you're ignorant! Dammit, you can't even look in a mirror without seeing the real you! Face it, Sakura. You're afraid to be beautiful."

Dropping her purse, Sakura's hands gripped Naruto's coat and she swung him around, crushing his back to the wall and holding him there without so much as a grunt of effort. Naruto, pain splicing up and down his spine, winced but didn't look away. He'd been expecting this. Heck, he walked right into like he stepped into a ten-foot deep hole on purpose.

Sakura's glare was burning into his so intensely he felt his eyes sting from the lack of blinking. She was almost slightly out of breath, her fists shaking with fury. Naruto's neck began to sweat with nerves.

"Why are you saying this?" she whispered in a dangerous voice, as if she were still threatening him with the question. Naruto swallowed, but he held his gaze steady when he answered.

"Because you need to hear it."

Sakura's expression, as hard as granite stone, slowly began to soften. Her lips loosened from being pursed for so long, her grip on Naruto's jacket weakening to normal. He raised his hands and closed his fingers over hers, slowly pushing them down to her sides and holding them there. "I think we both need to hear it," he said quietly, "I'm being hypocritical. Even when I told you that you couldn't see yourself in the right light, I knew the same was true for me." He looked down at their hands, unable to register shock at finding she hadn't pulled hers away yet. "Not to sound cocky, but … I feel the same way."

There was a moment of silence, and when Naruto looked back at Sakura he found her watching him. It seemed like she was waiting for something, but suddenly she pulled her hands out of his grasp and turned away with stubbornly crossed arms.

"More pity talk," she grumbled, and Naruto let out a loud exasperated noise. He rubbed his hands through his hair to express how stressed out he was.

"You are so frustrating to talk to tonight, do you know that?" he yelled, his hands clenched in balled fists at his sides.

Sakura turned back around and scowled at him, a deep crease dividing along her brow. "Then stop talking to me! You're the one who forced this conversation on us."

"That's because I meant what I said! You needed to hear it. I did, too."

"I don't 'need' to hear anything. I'm not some insecure ignorant girl that you make me out to be, Naruto!"

"I beg to differ," Naruto snapped, stepping forward so he was towering over her. He had a good three inches over her, not that it made any difference. "I think you're very ignorant! In fact, you're the most ignorant person I've ever met!"

"Really?" Sakura shouted, her fingers digging into her hips. "And you're the most moronic, annoying, _insulting_ creep in the entire universe! How does it feel?"

He didn't respond, couldn't respond; his voice would have cracked with the rage that was bubbling inside of him. If he let out that rage, he could unleash the thing he hated most in this world. He could end up hurting someone. _I could end up hurting Sakura!_ He had to find a way to calm the Nine-Tails inside of him, something that would smother the flames of his fury.

Something to surprise him … anything to confuse him…!

Before he knew what he was doing, Naruto took Sakura's face between his hands and pressed his lips against hers. It was too sudden to react to, too random to have predicted. He kissed her for three _long _seconds before pulling away, his breath knocked out of him like someone kicked him in the chest. Sakura blinked in bewilderment, stunned into silence and motionless like a statue. Her mind seemed to have stopped functioning, all train of thought wiped from her memory. She couldn't recall just what the two of them were fighting about.

Naruto was speechless, so surprised at what he had done that he didn't notice his unintentional plan had worked. The anger was gone; the Nine-Tails was suppressed once more. All was well. But now Naruto was more confused than a dog chasing its tail to the point of vertigo.

"Um…" he breathed, not sure what was supposed to happen next. He'd never done this before.

Sakura blinked again, this time responsively. Her brainpower kicked back on like a light switch, and she stared at Naruto with an expression of puzzlement. "What just happened?" she whispered, reaching up to Naruto's hands still on her face. Her skin brushed against his, and he felt the nerves of where she touched him burn like they were on fire.

"I'm not sure," he whispered back. He felt a pull towards her, a magnetic force that compelled him to be closer to her. Slowly, so as not to alarm either of them, he leaned forward a second time. Sakura was still, watching him carefully but not turning away. Their foreheads touched; then their noses. Naruto's thumb stroked along Sakura's cheekbone. Both of their faces were heated with extreme flush.

Then Sakura inhaled a deep shaky breath; she tilted her chin up, closed her eyes, and kissed him.

It was longer this time. The intensity had increased. But their lips remained soft against each other, his hands going back to mingle with her cherry hair, hers grabbing on to his tie and pulling him closer. It felt … magical, somehow. It felt right.

It felt good.

After a time that seemed to last endlessly, Naruto finally broke the kiss, pulling away for air. They stood against each other, silent, in the center of the hallway. The music from the ballroom washed over them, flooded their ears with jubilation. It was a slow song, considered sad in parts and heart moving in others.

Sakura looked at Naruto, and he smiled. The awkwardness between them had passed with that second kiss.

Naruto offered his hand to her, and said, "May I have this dance, Sakura?"

With a deliberate grin of amusement across her pale face, Sakura took his hand, and together they swayed back and forth to the rhythmic tune, the beautiful song forever etched into their minds as a memory that _this_ was the best night of their lives.

Fin.


End file.
